"This game is just like every Other M"

Introduction - Thank you for choosing my review. I affirm that it will be spoiler free. I have played most of the Metroid games, and I am a huge fan of the series. Please accept my most unbiased opinions.

When a mysterious blue ship followed Samus Aran into deep space, players were left astounded. June 2009, and Team Ninja announced the makings of a new Metroid. A Metroid that, for the first time, combined first person shooting and third person combat. Excitement was inevitable, especially after the epic conclusion of the Prime series. However, rather than continue from the timeline, Nintendo decided to place the new Metroid after Super and before Fusion.

Gameplay (7/10) - Trailers and commercials tended to highlight m&ecirc;l&eacute;e, or Samus's combat skills. However, soon off, the player learns that m&ecirc;l&eacute;e is severely limited to light gun blows, occasion kicks, and a very rare throw. Holding the remote horizontally, the majority of the fighting involves shooting and dodging. Dodging just before getting hit will fully charge the gun, which allows for a quick and powerful shot. Repeating the process quickly weakens enemies. Aside from shooting and dodging, the player can morph into a ball as in the previous installments. Lastly, the player can point the remote at the screen, scan the area for targets, and fire missiles at any target that has the ability to be locked on to. You cannot fire a missile unless you are locked on to a target, however, you can fire your gun in a similar fashion to the Prime series. There is some scanning, but it is extremely limited. Unfortunately, only Samus's arm and visor can move while the remote is pointed at the screen. All in all, I kind of enjoyed the fast paced fighting, which reminded me of the Samus from Super Smash Brothers.

The camera angle is fixed, and there is plenty of side scrolling. The gameplay felt exactly like the Zero Mission and Fusion installments of the series. The save rooms were eerily similar and abundant, and the gameplay is linear for ease. If they added eye monsters to the doors, this would have been a Game Boy Advance game.

Story (3/10) - Samus receives a distress signal and flies to explore the BOTTLE SHIP, a giant space colony with multiple sector extremely similar to the ship in Fusion. Samus meets up with Adam Malkovich, Samus's previous commander. Samus immediately begins to flashback to her distant past. Character development arises as Samus, for the time in Metroid history, audibly speaks. In my opinion, Samus talks too much, and it was a bad move on Nintendo's part. If you enjoyed the solitude of the previously mysterious Samus Aran, prepare for a major difference. Samus's character is twisted into some kind of dramatic adult with multiple childhood regrets. Multiple monologues and the dialogue between characters reveal new elements of Samus's past.

The sectors throughout the game disappointed me the most. Everything that appeared seemed to have been taken from a previous game. I also resented the fact that Samus was confined to one ship the entire game. After the incredible creativity of the previous installments, this game was very generic: generic environments, generic enemies, generic bosses.

The game did get better near the end with a couple of Nintendo's famous plot twists, but the buildup only led to a slow ending. Also, if you liked the scary sense of isolation from the previous games, prepare to be disappointed. Samus is on board with a team of Galatic Federation troops the entire game, with Adam frequently contacting her. There is no scary in this installment.

Graphics/Sound (?/10) - Samus was gorgeous. The graphics were the best on the Wii so far. The suit was shiny. Sadly, the generic environments looked a lot better in the Prime series. The whole sector deal, with its artificially generated habitats, was plain disappointing. The cutscenes were okay.

What disappointed me more was the soundtrack. Usually when I play a Metroid game, I'm looking for catchy tracks to put on my iPod. Not one. The new music director performed disgracefully compared to Kenji Yamamoto's legacy. I will not score this category because I can't decide on a number that comes between Samus's beauty and the lame sounds.

Play Time/Replayability (5/10) - I beat the game in about ten hour. I would not replay it again, but I would consider watching some of the cutscenes again. Rent this installment from your local video store before you buy.

Conclusion - In conclusion, I think that Nintendo let the fans down. I appreciated the attempt to create an original Metroid, but in the end, everything seemed way too generic. Obviously, Team Ninja was not the best choice to develop a Metroid game. After all, Samus Aran is not a ninja.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10 | Originally Posted: 09/03/10

Game Release: Metroid: Other M (US, 08/31/10)

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